Swap 2013

[Son of the King]

This guide explains how to unlock all factions.

[Jubal]

Pretty sure you don't need to have Thrace unlocked to join in anyway, the save will almost certainly work fine regardless.

[comrade_general]

Pretty sure you don't need to have Thrace unlocked to join in anyway, the save will almost certainly work fine regardless.

Correct.

[Jubal]

So who AM I sending this to? 

[Will]

Pretty sure you don't need to have Thrace unlocked to join in anyway, the save will almost certainly work fine regardless.

That would make sense. Forgive my foolishness. 

[Clockwork]

Send to me! 20 turns is it?

[Jubal]

Yeah, about a decade anyhow 

I'll email it to you soon. 

[Jubal]

Sorry it's a bit late:



The Chronicle of the Thracians

260BC: Troops moved from Alexandria to Memphis.

259: Moved south to Thebes. Great projects for the construction of farms ordered, to ensure the kingdom had much needed revenues. Some garrison reductions ordered; siege of Thebes begins.
Black Battle of Thebes. Pharaoh Khnumhoptep attacks the besieging force with great score of troops. His powerful chariots sweep our forces away utterly, killing many of the great men of the realm. Sautes alone among his generals escapes, bitter and heartbroken.

He nevertheless orders the training of more hoplite militias to defend Alexandria and Memphis against any oncoming counter-attack; the coming months could be crucial to the young realm.

258: Egyptians besiege Memphis. A governor's villa ordered in Kydonia.
Khnumhoptep assaults Memphis, with vastly superior strength in arms.

His forces advance on the walls of Memphis. They have one great battering ram, which he has titled "The Shatterer of Horus", one great tower "The Tower of Zeus", and various siege ladders, thus ensuring both Egypt's old and new gods are recognised. The ram, however, is burned and destroyed by the powerful ballistae in the towers above the gates of Memphis. Thus deprived of a way to get his powerful chariots inside easily, he attempts to take the gate by sending his spearmen up the ladders and towers. These are cut down by the brave Thracian falxmen. In a rage, the Pharaoh sent his javelinmen to climb the ladders too, though these died even more swiftly. At last, he was forced to ride away, swearing revenge on all the Thracian people. 128 Thracians died on the walls; nearly nine hundred of Egypt's infantry were sent to whatever hell they pleased.

257:
Sautes, most noble of leaders, finally dies, exhausted by the Black Battle and then by his heroic defence of Memphis. Byzas his second son becomes the new King, with Deopus his daughter's husband as heir to the Thracian throne. A split in the family geographically is now clear; the line of Byzas is entirely in Egypt, whereas that of Pytros, the elder, remains in Old Thrace.
An Egyptian navy attempts to blockade the docks at Alexandria but is swiftly defeated. Byzas' reign is something the Egyptians are not prepared to have last long, though, and both Alexandria and Memphis are rapidly besieged by vast Egyptian hordes. It is at this desperate moment that Bryzos son of Byzas is given his first cavalry command, helping his father in the defence of Alexandria.

256: The Egyptians seem determined to starve the two cities out; the larger garrison, that of Alexandria, is forced to try and act. There are 1300 Thracians against 1500 Egyptians.
In the battle, Byzas falls, as does the Egyptian commander, Shabaka Auletes. The Thracians kill 1276 Egyptians for 860 or so losses, but fail to decisively push the Egyptians from the battlefield as the morale of the hoplite militia wavers. Bryzos is made the new heir.
Bryzos quickly realises that he is better placed now to push the Egyptians from Alexandria – it will take the Pharaoh another three years if he wants to starve Memphis out – and orders a second attempt at a counterattack. He finally defeats the Egyptians, though losing many of his own many in the process; just two hundred Thracians now guard Alexandria. Bryzos quickly orders the training of more men for the war.
Khnumhoptep, on hearing of his forces' failures at Alexandria, orders the construction of siege equipment and an assault on Memphis; his infantry only consists of a tiny number of Libyans, however, and the ram they build is swiftly destroyed.

255: Deopus, the siege at last lifted, orders Phalanx Pikemen to be trained. It is not lifted for long though, as the vengeful Pharaoh orders another attack. Riots break out in Tylis, with the practice range being badly damaged.

254: The Pharaoh's armies finally leave Memphis. Given a breathing space, King Deopus decides that shrewd financial investment is much needed. He orders the building of better roads around Tylis and Alexandria.
Tylis, however, is not in a good state. The barbarous Scyths swoop from the north and attack the city under their great warlord Partatua.

253: Scouts are sent south to see what the Pharaoh is up to. Troops are seen moving around Thebes, and men are sent from Alexandria to Memphis in case this portends an assault.

Partatua moves against the garrison in Tylis. Desakenthos, the Thracian commander, realises they have only built a single ram, and packs his hoplites at the gate in the hope that the poorer quality Scythians will be unable to break their phalanx.

All is in vain, however; whilst the main body of the barbarians flee, the bodyguard of Partatua break the phalanx and kill Desakenthos – though Partatua himself is also slain in the fighting, this is little recompense for the loss of the Thracian ancestral home. Iptacens, the last member of the Pytrid line, is unceremoniously executed by the Scythians.

A further result is the renewed importance of Egypt. Deopus, now essentially capital of a state based on the Nile Delta with its capital at Alexandria, moves south with all his men to finally try and challenge the might of Pharaoh.

252: News of a new army moving on Alexandria reaches Deopus and he moves north to block its path – the Pharaoh will have to wait until another day. The Pharaoh hunts down a Thracian scouting party and annihilates it, then moves to besiege Memphis again.

251: Deopus takes the field against the northern Egyptian force. He adopts a son, Mukaporis, a promising young cavalryman, as his second in command. He eventually hunts down the enemy not far from the great Pharos lighthouse; the Battle of the Pharos is about to begin.
The battle is vast, and the greatest Thracian victory in many years. 2274 Thracians take the field and just over thirty of them die – though these sadly include Mukaporis, slain just as he entered the world of politics by the knife of a mere Egyptian javelinman. The Egyptian force of 1200 men is obliterated, with only nine escaping to tell the tale. The telling factor is the sheer number of Thracian skirmishers, wounding the enemy grievously such that when the hoplites and pikemen attack, the Egyptian line breaks almost instantly.

Deopus once more turns south, where the siege of Memphis is still underway. A treaty of alliance is signed with the Seleucids, who are themselves facing the great wrath of the Pharaoh's armies according to the map information they have given us.
Fresh from his great victory at the Pharos, Deopus gambles on attacking the Pharaoh near Memphis. This is a gamble too far, though; the massive chariot battalion of the Pharaoh kills him and destroys most of his routing army. The remainder, under Captain Kersebleptos, manages to fight an effective rearguard action later in the year, but even this is eventually defeated. The Pharaoh has few men left, but the Thracian garrisons are now threadbare at best and with an inexperienced young king.

250: Bryzos I's reign had to start with creating a succession. Two commanders, Spartacus and Ketripioris, were promoted to allow this, and the army of Deopus was retrained rapidly in Memphis. Ketripioris left Memphis to attempt to go round the Pharaoh's army to Alexandria, but a new Egyptian force appeared in his way. Spartacus led an army south to feint an attack on Thebes, leaving a guard on the main bridge the Pharaoh would have to cross to follow them; the Pharaoh's army did not move, however...



I didn't do very well, basically. 1 province lost, 0 gained, held on in Egypt, high turnover of leaders. Definitely we're in with a shout of getting Thebes again though, and the Egyptians really suck at attacking big walls so build lots of them.

Also get ALL of the pikes. And watch out for chariots, basically all my defeats involved the Pharaoh's chariots personally running my entire army over.

[comrade_general]

No problem with losing the province as we weren't meant to keep hold of Old Thrace for long anyway.

Best way to destroy Egyptians is to leave your pikemen in a line somewhere safe but facing the enemy naturally, and if there are chariots (which there are almost guaranteed to be), use as many general's bodyguards and skirmisher horse to attack them in bulk. Don't let the chariots run around - attack them when they are standing still and useless. The mixture of horsemen will make light work of them.

[Jubal]

Rob is apparently busy, anyone else want to take next turn?

[Will]

I wouldn't mind, depends if you want to put Thrace in jeopardy or not? Also I think flaming arrows are good against chariots.

[Jubal]

Sent on etc 

[Will]

The next 10 years of the mighty Thracian empire have been completed. Notes taken, Egyptians killed. Will form a report at some stage soon.

I have the save back on the laptop to pass on to the next participant.

[Will]

Winter 249BC until the winter of 240.

Spoiler

Winter 249BC:


Egyptian captain Psammetikhos besieges Alexandria.
Spartacus besieges Thebes and his troops prepare buy starting to contrust siege towers.


Summer 248BC:


Captain Psammetikhos attacks Alexandria. Unfortunately Psammetikhos blindly orders his entire army to repeatedly walk through the main gates into a wall of pikes, arrows from the towers, calvalry charges, and boiling oil from the gateway above.

Clear Victory: Captain Eptenis deployed 552 men, killed 513. 551 remaining.
Captain Psammetikhos deployed 589 men, killed 0, 76 remaining.

Meanwhile Spartacus's forces are prepared and assault Thebes to try and reclaim what is rightfully theirs. Two seige towers are placed to one side of the wall nearest his deployment. A gate is captured to allow the cavalry to enter the city. Spartacus uses the narrow streets to take choice battles against the Egyptian forces.

Assault on Thebes:
Clear Victory:
Spartacus deployed 1214 killed 597 men remaining 698
Meryre deployed 598 killed 566 men remaining 1

The population was exterminated to generate a large amount of plunder. About 11,000 denarii.


247BC summer:


Rioting in Alexandria.
Agent found spying from Numibia.
Great wall started in Memphis, as well as other building projects in Alexandria and Thebes.


246bc summer:


Huge rebel force has been built up. Captain khnumhoptep near Memphis.
Spartacus travels to Alexandria in support against a small Egpytian force which has closed in on the city.


245 BC summer:


Great walls are completed and shall provide extra defenses in the case of a seige.
Rebel army still at large.
Good income has led to a recruitment drive.
A few watchtowers are erected to help line of sight.


245BC winter:


Large Egyptian force seen moving in from the east.
Rioting in Alexandria


244Bc summer:


The Large Egyptian force led by captain Ptahotem beseiges Alexandria.


244bc winter:


Kydonia grows.
Alexandria still under seige, rebel army still at large.


243bc :


Bendidora dies.


243bc summer:


Spartacus deployed 1126, killed 1204, men remaining 717
Captain Ptahotem deployed 1359, killed 479, men remaining 155
The Thracian archers doing terrible damage to the Egyptians whilst a small cavalry force rides forth from the safety of the city walls to meet the enemy head on routing unsupported enemy ranged units.


243bc winter.


3 star Egyptian general Nakhrankh Philometor arrives with a small force.
attempted bribe rebel army.


242bc winter:


Nakhrankh Philometor beseiges Alexandria with his megre force. Possibly not a wise choice.


241bc summer:



A few reinforcements sent to Alexandria to swing the odds further in our favour.


241bc winter

reinforcements don't arrive in time. But the battle ensues.


Spartacus himself leads a cavalry charge with two additional greek cav units to destroy an oncoming battering ram
Spartacus deployed 608, killed 370, and has 464 remaining.
Nakhrankh Philometor deployed 644, killed 169, and is left with 269 remaining.


Marriage celebrations, Mukapaibes and Eptarys wed.
16 year old commander Mukapaibes shall be seeing war before too long with yet another Egyptian army coming in from the east.


240BC summer:


Rioting in Memphis.
Egyptian army led by Captain Teos progresses further towards Alexandria, The general Nakhrankh Philometor is still sculking about with his depleted forces.


240BC winter:


The highly touted Mukapaibes launches from Alexandria with a large force and defeats the remaining army of Nakhrankh Philometor.
Alas the Egyptian escapes with a few troops and retreats to the west out of sight.


Summary

Thebes recaptured.
Numerous buildings queued up or completed.
Army increased in size with archers ready in each city to defend the walls.

Sorry I didn't write it up properly. Bad timing as I've just started a part-time job. Jubal has a copy of the save.

[comrade_general]

Nice work Will.

OK who's next? Rob? Penty? One of the Saws?